Evaluation

 

Comparison with the short film

My film was inspired by several professional short films. These short films influenced me through representation, as it highlights that different culture, identities, religions, genders and so on to show the equally important role in the world. The short film ‘Tight jeans’ uses a predominantly black cast, communicating the importance of representation of minorities who have yet to reach a proportional representation within the film industry. By allowing black characters to express and use their voice on topics of race and culture it gives an important message to other minorities who have been suppressed about voicing their issues. In the short film ‘Slap’, the character Connor has been oppressed and discriminated against by society's stereotypical view of what the ‘norm’ is and struggles to find a true identity, representing how gender is not defined simply by how you dress or behave. Giving a voice to those who lack representation influenced me to represent my protagonist as an Asian female, an underrepresented minority in the West. She shows the impact other people’s words can have on us, and the consequences such as mental health issues, a taboo subject in many Asian cultures.

The message behind the film ‘Echo’ also influenced my short film. ‘Echo’ characterises the impact of trauma, and how it affects different people. Significantly, this gives the audience a different perspective on the topic. They are free to decide their feelings about how the character controls her trauma; they are not manipulated either way, which is why I feel the film’s message is very raw. It keeps the audience actively thinking, putting themselves in her shoes to discover what she has had to go through. Similarly, in my film, I want the audience to actively think and decide on their own opinion. My film’s message also reflects the loop of trauma on an individual inspired by ‘Echo’.

Ultimately I was influenced by these short films through the use of narrative as a story telling device, using a voiceover to describe the narrative, as used in ‘The Ellington Kid’.  The storytelling narrative and the voiceover technique reflect how children are read stories to from an early age. Those stories paint images in our minds as the narrative transports us. We also grow up hearing old wives tales; which become real in our vivid imaginations. Therefore, I have used the literal technique of visually representing what the narrative says through a voiceover, linking this idea of being told a story and imagining the images that are seen by the child in my movie. I have chosen to do this to elicit empathy from the audience as they see the torment in Krittikar’s mind, the narrative structure throws the audience into her world, using detailed shots that match the voice over’s emotion. In the conclusion of my film, I use the structural technique used in ‘The Ellington kid’, whereby the audience are left thinking as to what would happen next. Did the kebab shop staff chop up the gang members? Did Krittikar eat an apple because she was getting better or because she still believes an apple a day keeps the doctors away?  

 

Critical approach

A critical approach applied to my short film is ‘Representation Theory’ by Stuart Hall, that representation isn’t an after occurrence, it’s a constitutional one, and there is more than one truth but that we frequently see only the one which we have come to believe while ignoring others. I chose to challenge the old wives tales that are fed to us since we were young, formed through common stereotypical expectations and shaped by the hegemonic within society. I wanted to use them as a metaphor for peoples’ words in general, to mirror how impactful they can be, having a positive effect, but more often a negative one, contributing to someone’s feelings and impression of themselves and society. A lot of these old wives tales endorse common stereotypes such as an ideal view of beauty and other ‘desirable’ qualities favoured by society, adding pressure on people to conform to, particularly the young.  The hegemonies in my film validating these views are the older Asian’s; as they are given respect in this culture.

My film reflects on Asian and western culture. It depicts mental health issues that occurs in Asian society but are rarely spoken about.  The Asian culture elements can also be seen through their old wives’ tales, the mise-en-scene and the language used. However, I also chose to show old wives’ tales from western culture, to reflect the influence of western ideology on other countries and cultures. 

Another approach in my film is ‘Realism and Expressionism’ as realism strives to represent truthfulness.  I wanted to focus on social issues such as mental health and emotional abuse through different ideologies’. In my film, I mirrored the impact words can have and how they can affect our mental health. However, I chose to express my film’s visual representation through expressionism, to present the world from the subject’s perspective, altering the visuals, expressing meaning and emotional fluency rather than physical realism. I did this through the use of distorted mise-en-scene, such as when,  in the first scene, Krittikar eats watermelon seeds and her head turns into a watermelon as in the old wives’ tale that she has been told.  The realism is strengthened through the use of non-professional actors, enhancing its rawness, making it more representative. My aim was to create Krittikar’s reality using exaggerated visuals, surreal and highly stylised imagery, shadowing her distorted reality. In the opening the set is heavily stylised, giving the viewers an understanding of how her reality functions.  Even though I am portraying Krittikar’s reality, the underlying message of realism attracts the audience with a sense of familiarity.

The use of expressionism in my film escalates rapidly, as the colour aesthetic of each ACT contrast each other. For example, ACT 1 is presented through a warm tone pallet, mirroring Krittikar’s youth and how the words used towards her are seen as encouraging and friendly hence the warm feeling. My colour pallet consists of two contrasting pallets, baby blue, baby pink, green and red. However, as the film progresses, the colour palettes hues and luminance change to a more grittier blues, pinks, and reds as the visuals gets devoured and a grittier green escalates, contrasting and eventually highlighting the red, reflecting the harm caused to Krittikar’s mental health. This shows how the same colours can create different moods depending on how and where they’re used and act as a metaphor for words.

 

Preferred and alternative readings

The reception theory developed by Stuart Hall suggests that media texts are encoded by the producers through micro-elements such as lighting, sound and theme. Whereas the audience could decode the message differently to how the producer intended, depending on their gender, age and culture.

The preferred meaning in my film is that words can reduce a person’s self-esteem, making  them feel excluded, insecure and distressed, the impact and the damage can last for years, because words are powerful.  Old wives tales can be seen as a metaphor for the loop of trauma and damage that my character feels due to the effect of these words; the food is used to create a visual representation of her damaged self-esteem, leading to mental health issues. This is shown through different micro-elements such as mise-en-scene, and colour grading. For example, I deliberately chose red foods to highlight and symbolize the internal anger my character feels due to the words, it also can be used to embody blood, reflecting the trauma and pain she had to go through, intensifying but also automatically highlighting the food, showing its importance in the film. At the end, the colour is seen as pale and non-saturated to reflect the end result of what her colourful reality is now. 

An alternative reading that could be taken from my film is dependent on the readers’ age, culture and their own life experience, for example, an older person could recognise the thin line between criticising someone and teaching someone, believing the protagonist as being too sensitive as the words used towards are spoken  with the intent of love and care. The adult voiceover comments on her weight and her educational status, which alternately can be seen as caring or teasing.

Another alternative reading of my film could be seen depending on the readers’ culture and life experience. As someone with a more western ideology and upbringing could view the situation as the protagonist not standing up for herself against the adults as they metaphorically slowly tear her to pieces, they might judge this to be partially her fault for not standing up for herself or for being weak. This can be seen through the use of dialogue as the protagonist repeatedly asks herself if she is weak.  However, from an Asian ideological perspective, to stand up and question an adult is seen as disrespectful, even if you do not agree with their point of view. 

 

 

 

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